Michelin-Starred Chef Shim Relaunches Bar92 Beneath Gui in Times Square

A one-Michelin-starred chef is doubling down on the Theatre District. This fall, Sungchul Shim relaunches Bar92, the casual cocktail lounge tucked beneath his Michelin-selected Gui Steakhouse in Times Square, with a rebuilt cocktail program and a new American-French bar menu carrying Korean flair.

The name is a wordplay. In Korean, 92 is pronounced "구이" — "gu-i" — which doubles as a nod to the steakhouse upstairs. The concept positions Bar92 as a calmer, more approachable alternative in a neighborhood not exactly famous for restraint, targeting pre- and post-theatre crowds, casual gatherings, and late-night drinkers.

Who built the new program?

Hospitality and beverage consultant Sky Lim reimagined the cocktail list, translating Korean flavors and ingredients into classic cocktail forms. The drinks take their names from elements of the Broadway theaters just around the corner, and their formats from Theatre District behavior — a quick drink before the curtain rises, a nightcap after the final bow.

Highlights include:

• Standing Ovation — an Old Fashioned built on roasted corn silk tea, Woodford Reserve, and cold-pressed perilla oil
• Opening Night — vodka-based, with spicy-sweet Korean ginger, lime, and an ice-cold lager
• Red Curtain — pomegranate hongcho (a Korean fruit-flavored vinegar concentrate), jalapeño, and lime beneath a salted rim

The beverage menu also carries non-proof cocktails plus a concise, curated selection of wines and spirits — a structure that lets the bar capture check occasions from daytime abstainers to post-show nightcaps.

What's on the food menu?

The kitchen side is structured in three acts: Act I is the raw bar, Act II covers small plates, and Headliners anchor the menu. Chef Shim applies his Michelin-starred technique to American bar favorites:

• Gui Prime Rib Dip — 7 oz of prime roast beef, caramelized onions, peppers, yuzu horseradish cream, and white American cheddar on a sesame seed hero roll with black garlic au jus
• Prime Cheeseburger — house blend of dry-aged prime beef, tomato, lettuce, and caramelized onion on brioche, with an optional sunny-side-up egg or bacon
• Duck Pastrami — thinly sliced, house-cured, served with fig jam, mustard seeds, and sourdough crostini

The format is menu engineering at its clearest: familiar, high-recognition bar dishes given premium inputs — dry-aged prime, house curing, black garlic — that justify fine-dining pricing in a casual setting.

The room itself

At the center of the space, a custom mother-of-pearl tile backsplash depicts an ornate Korean landscape. Gold accents, a white marble countertop, and charcoal booths and high-top tables define a lively front-of-bar area. A metal partition at the back opens into a more intimate seating nook — available for private events — with a long banquette, brass details, and a low-hanging ribbed-wood ceiling modeled after a hanok, a traditional Korean house built from natural materials. Bar92 sits at street level, with a separate entrance immediately left of Gui's main door, giving the lounge its own traffic stream apart from the steakhouse.

The operator behind it

Chef Shim holds degrees from The Culinary Institute of America and trained in Thomas Keller's Per Se (3 stars) and Eric Ripert's Le Bernardin (3 stars). As executive chef of Neta, he earned a two-star review from The New York Times. His NYC portfolio includes the one-Michelin-starred Kochi and Mari alongside Gui Steakhouse, and he recently appeared as a prominent contestant on Netflix's Culinary Class Wars: Season 2 — a mainstream visibility bump that can only help a Theatre District relaunch counting on walk-in curiosity. Whether the Korean-inflected bar menu converts Broadway foot traffic into repeat covers will be the measure of the reboot.